Britain’s financial regulator is slapping down the City's 'bad apples' and won’t let up any time soon

The FCA will be looking to send a message out that it is not turning a blind eye to poor conduct” says law firm RPC.

The FCA spent a total of £300,000 in legal fees to pursue a case banning one director

The Financial Conduct Authority has banned 23 so-called “bad apples” from working in the industry in the past 12 months.

That’s according to figures from London law firm RPC, which said in a report today that the 28% increase in “prohibition orders” is part of a wider crackdown as part of its aim to deter future misconduct.

“Being banned from the financial services industry is a life changing event – the FCA knows this,” Jonathan Cary, partner at RPC, said in the report. “The FCA will be looking to send a message out that it is not turning a blind eye to poor conduct.”

In one case lasting more than three years, the FCA said that it spent 4,777 hours and £300,000 ($US385,912) in legal fees to ban just one director.

RPC says that bans are likely to increase, especially now that the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, or SMCR – a 2016 set of standards that holds senior managers to higher standards of personal accountability – has been extended to all financial services firms, not just banks.

By the end of 2019, senior staff at 47,000 financial services firms in the UK will be covered by the SMCR.

It’s another blow for London’s battered financial services industry, which the UK government says represents about 6.5% of the nation’s economy.